The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido, has warned that unless the people of the North change their culture, they will continue to be backward and poor.
The emir, according to a report by PUNCH, made the comment in Gusau, Zamfara State, on Friday while presenting a paper. Sanusi was represented at the event by Dr Usman Bugaji.
According to the emir, the culture of marrying more than one wife by those who cannot even properly take care of one wife and producing many children was the main reason why the Northern region would continue to remain backward and poor.
He said, “There are people who cannot afford to feed one wife but are ready to marry three wives and have more children than they cannot feed, talk less of paying for their school fees.
The poverty level of the North is 80 per cent; while in the South, the percentage is 20 per cent simply because of the culture of marrying many wives and producing many children who at the end are left on the streets to beg for what to eat.
The issues we have today such as drug abuse, Boko Haram, banditry and unemployment would be nothing compared to what we will be dealing with in the next 20 or 30.”
